Super Mario 64 Volume 1: Bob-omb Battlefield
by Kai Anderson
Summary: The game is popular, is it not? In the real world, though, things do not truly happen as abruptly as they seem. Emotions are not as dormant. Mario is not real, but what if he were? How, then, would his adventure be told? This is the first volume of many, where Mario's adventure is expressed as if he were real as we. I will base this strictly from Mario 64. Here is the bob omb saga!
1. Prologue: It's me, Mario!

My life as an Italian plumber was over after first meeting her. Her hair was a yellow-blonde and her dress, a bubblegum pink. She had a very kind personality with eyes among the most delicate.

When born in Brooklyn, New York, you don't expect to meet many like her. After waking up in Mushroom Kingdom those years ago, I felt it a dream that hasn't ended – yes, a terrible dream.

Time moved toward the ninth hour and I was a tad early to my final job of the day. The piping in the princess' castle had gone awry. I was called to see to the problem, but found it to be nothing hard for me to handle.

Quickly, I finished the job, when I met with a small midget-like boy handing an envelope to me.

"This is your cash for today." He said. His beady eyes gleamed with an adolescent sparkle as he extended his undefined arm toward me. "Only the princess can pay you directly like this, and I get to be her attendant."

Content with the weight of the envelope, I responded with a closed end statement to hasten the end of the conversation. "You must be excited."

After receiving my payment, I descended to the main hall where my footsteps were halted by the sound of a benevolent voice.

"Oh, kind stranger?" The princess began. "I thank you. My piping seems to be in order for now."

Tucking the brim between my fingers, I tipped my red hardhat at her "No need, I am only doing my job."

Straightaway from descending, she tripped down a few stairs. Without thinking, I moved. Aided by the impulse, I was able to catch her just before her bottom touched the floor.

"...my savior." She swooned, fanning herself.

Closer, I examined her fine silk covered hand and skin color that gave way to her unique name...Peach.

"Tell me." She started, looking up at my hat. The curiosity in expression was nearly tangible. I could tell that in some way, she was intrigued. "What does the 'M' stand for?"

I stood her up with all the strength that I could. I was fairly certain that had she not been weighted with the slew of evident emotion, her feather-light body would surely have floated away.

I wasn't even near her height. In fact, I was only somewhere around 4" 2'. One would say that I was a midget.

"Mario" I responded.

Her shined lips reflected importance as she silently mouthed my name as if to remember it well.

Her lips were beautiful indeed and for a second, I thought how ironic it was that for something that spoke so many words, they could just as easily steal them from others.

"Mario, is it?" She affirmed.

"Yes, some would have called me Jump-Man in the past but yes...Mario."

Using her left hand, she pulled the white glove from her right hand and extended a parting to me. The fact that she felt the need to remove her glove was something of epic significance. In ways, to be graced with the princess' true touch, was to have gained the ultimate approval.

"Well, thank you again; you have...been much help today." She said. You are welcome to stay a while longer. Some friends and I are about to play tennis...maybe a little golf. You can play as well, commoner...I mean, Mario."

Commoner...how that word would always snap a person to reality. It reminded those of us in the kingdom just how insignificant we were. That for not having been born with power, we were doomed to cushion the soles of those who were. That word…that word.

"It's okay, Princess. I know my place. I need rest, so good-bye." I turned my back and headed from the castle. I felt her stare me down as I walked. It was the easiest way to exist without displaying how foolish I had been.

How dare she ask me something like that? How would I look...prancing around the castle like nobility? Even she said it herself. I was just a commoner. Of course, I wanted to say, "Yes" but I knew that a person like me could never be a true friend to her. I'd probably end up using her in the end.

I arrived home, tired as hell. After parking my kart in the garage, I went into my room and plopped on the bed fully clothed. It was a day to remember. So much so, that I fell asleep and dreamt of Princess Peach herself.

A few days later, I woke to a beautiful morning. The heat from Dry Dry Desert seemed to have swept its way in, but nothing too scorching. I stepped outside to collect the morning paper, when Parakarry, the mail currier, came rushing my way.

"Howdy, Mario." he said. "Looks like you've got an admirer." I remember Parakarry. He'd often wear aviation attire to effectively distinguish himself from the others of his Koopa race.

Hey, hey, Parakarry! Looks like you got the job!" I exclaimed.

Rubbing the back of his head, he put my assumption to silence.

"No, this is just field training. I'm not actually an employee until I've finished one week in this part of town, but someday I want to travel the entire kingdom, delivering letters.

"I'd say you're halfway there. Now then, about this admirer… Whaddaya mean?" I asked. He grabbed an envelope from his brown bag.

"Just check it out. I gotta finish my route. We'll talk later if I have the chance." He flew off, leaving me with the chance to read the letter.

The envelope was astonishing. It had golden crusted ink, written with a frame of flowers. My name was centered in bold cursive. I removed the letter, careful not to destroy the envelope. It even smelled nice. It read,

Dear Mario,

Please come to the castle. I've

baked a cake for you. Yours truly

– –Princess Toadstool

**_PEACH_**

"Yahoo!" I shouted, jumping high into the air. "I've gotta get ready!"

I swiftly ran inside and grabbed a shower. I figured that I would put on my red and blue work uniform so that after I left the castle, I could go straight to my job.

When taking my shower, I made sure to scrub only the essential parts. That way, I could hasten my time. With my shower complete, I dripped dry, tossed my clothes on, and finished the remainder of my hygienic duties. With all that complete, I was ready to go.

Typically, I'd take my kart everywhere I went, but being a plumber, I knew of an underground route that lead from my place directly to the princess' castle.

So down the tunnel I went and into the grime and filth. The putrid smells were not to make my traveling easy.

"My god! I just took a bath. Now what do I do?" I thought to my self how stupid it was for me to take a tunnel, knowing where I was going. Still, I had to hurry. I didn't know how long she had been waiting for me.

After minutes of crawling through the crud, I could see light. "Finally" As I inched closer, something red and white caught my eye in the periphery.

"Is that..." I thought "a mushroom!" Regardless of the smell, I needed to eat it. Being taller would only help smooth things along. "Yes!" I shouted after eating it. "It was a rare one! With this, I can stand at 5"4' for days...no...months!"

That said, I exited from the other side of the tunnel. On the other side, I was greeted by a Lakitu, who began to film me aloft his cloud.

"Um...hello?" I tentatively said to him.

"Ciao! You've reached Princess Toadstool's castle using a pipe. Just to let you know, jumping and attacking might be something useful here."

Confounded at the cloud-wearing Koopa child, I stepped closer and tilted my head upward at his camera.

"Attacking? Why would I need to do a thing like that?"

"Just keep it moving, you'll see. I'm gonna film you along the way. I hope you don't mind." I looked in his camera lens, imagining the idea of being filmed.

"I don't mind. In fact, I like the idea! Just no embarrassing stuff." The Lakitu agreed and we both continued on to the castle bridge. As I approached, the Lakitu cut off my movements, circling around me.

"Good afternoon." he said, holding the camcorder in front my face. "Lakitu Brother here, reporting live from just outside the princess' castle. Mario has just arrived on the scene and, and we'll be filming the action live as he enters the castle and pursues the missing Power Stars." I looked up at the floating Lakitu in dumbness.

"What do you mean, 'missing'? What is this? You had better be telling me everything."

"Oh?" The Lakitu said sarcastically. "Did I not say?"

"Let me found out." I inferred. "Those power stars keep this land in good standing." He ignored me and I continued walking into the castle.

Upon entrance, chills ran through my bones as a random and creepy voice said, "Welcome, no one's home, now scram! And don't come back." Afterward, a sinister laugh drifted into the shadows. I had my reservations about even continuing. Something felt different than when I was there a few days before.

"Lakitu!" I shouted "What's going on. You'll tell me everything now."

He began to shake in apprehension. "Well, um...the princess has gone missing and the stars."

"Missing!" I interrupted "Let's go." I turned a cold back to the Lakitu as he continued filming. The waxed and checkered floor reflected the footsteps that began echoes throughout the entire grand hall.

This couldn't have happened so soon. I thought that I'd have heard about something so awful. I had to find her. I went to every door I could in the grand hall, but none would open.

"Damn! What is this?" I glanced over and saw a mushroom-headed boy and he came cowering to me.

"Am I glad to see you! The princess...and I...well, everybody! We're all trapped in the castle."

"Trapped?" I asked. "Can't you just leave?"

Looking into the boy's eyes. I realized that he was the same boy that paid me when I last visited the castle. They had the same child-like glow.

"Bowser stole the power stars." He said. "He's using their power to create worlds inside of the walls and paintings. We are afraid to move anywhere." I pat him on the head.

"Please...slow down." I requested. The child began to weep. "I remember you." I said

"Please recover the power stars. As you find them, you can use them to open doors Bowser has sealed. There are four rooms on the first floor. Start in the room with the painting of the Bob-omb. It's the only room he has yet to seal on this floor." I began to walk toward the mentioned door.

"Thanks, kid! You've been a lot of help."

"Wait!" He shouted. "Once you've collected eight power stars, you should be able to enter the door with the big star on it. The princess has to be in there!" Again, I thanked him and continued in the castle.

"So whaddaya think, Lakitu?"

"I trust him. I just didn't think that things had gotten this bad. Anyway, we should move fast. The quicker we solve this, the higher my ratings." I punched him for his lack of empathy for the situation.

"Damn Lakitu! Get up and let's go." He mercifully followed as I entered the room with the mentioned painting. I felt like the longer I stayed there, the more sinister my heart was becoming. I was changing.

So into the room we came and a gigantic picture of a Bob-omb hang. I walked up to the painting and tried to climb the wall into it.

"Well that's just great!" I shouted. "How am I supposed to get in the painting? It's too high up."

"Well," the Lakitu began, "perhaps you need a running start." I snapped my glove-covered fingers and said, "Genius!" I jogged to the furthermost opposite of the painting and began panting in fear.

"If I can manage this, Lakitu," I said, "keep that camera on. If I happen to die while saving the princess, you just might be recording a legend."

I was still afraid that I wouldn't really be able to enter the painting, but I had no time to consider that possibility. Pushing my apprehension aside, I ran toward the painting and at the last second, I sprang into it.

Thinking of it, I had only gone there to drink tea and have cake with the princess. Maybe I would have stayed for an hour or two, but no one could have known how long I would really be there...the horrors that took my life when I sat foot beyond the castle door.


	2. Chapter One: Big Bob-Omb on the Summit

After entering the frame, we fell for moments on in until finally, my butt hit soft grass. We fell from what appeared to be the sky.

"Where are we?" I asked the Lakitu.

"We're smack in the middle of a battlefield... Bob-omb buddies vs. the baddies." The Lakitu began to look around the place for a bit while I stood.

"If I know that creep, Bowser, he enjoys doing things in high places." He pointed toward a huge mountain peak. "I'm sure we'll find some power stars here. I'd bet my coins that THERE is where we'll find our first one. Let's talk to the Bob-omb buddy over there."

I didn't have much to say. I was shocked just by being in that place at all. It looked like a place on an entirely different scale from ours. For Bowser to have created it, the place was too green and cheery. It was like a grassy plane with a bright and blue sky. The only thing that seemed threatening was the enemies there.

We spoke with the pink Bob-omb buddy and he gave us very valuable information.

"I don't know who you are," he said, "but it's dangerous up ahead, so listen up and take my advice. See those two bridges there?" he shifted his eyes and we acknowledged. "If you cross those, you'll see falling water bombs. Watch out for those. If you are planning to go scaling that mountain there, you should know that the Big Bob-omb at the summit is very powerful, so don't let him grab you."

I took in all they little pink armless bomb's advice and the Lakitu made note of it all.

"That's all I can think of at the moment, but remember, we buddies are on your side, so you can talk to any one of us if you need any help."

With that said, we went on hiking. After a tiny bit of walking, we came to a small brown bridge with no sides.

"Well, this is a good sign." I said. "It looks like we're following the bomb's directions perfectly so far." We walked across the bridge and made a left. The right led to a dead end. When we turned the corner we heard a noise. *WOFF WOFF* It barked.

"Mario, be careful!" The lakitu warned.

"I know, Navi, thanks -.-" To our surprise, we were greeted by an enormous Chain-chomp. It was thrice as big as those in the real world. I figured that I would press myself up against a nearby fence and sidle past it. I was wrong. My confidence got the best of me. It noticed my presence and immediately attacked me.

"Mario!" The lakitu shouted.

"I'm okay, buddy. He barely nudged me. I was lucky enough to avoid its teeth."

"He's coming in for another attack, Mario! Watch out!" I quickly jumped out of the way, but after that first attack, quick movements were a bad idea. I fell to the ground, grasping my left leg.

"Mario, are you...can you walk?" I shook my head left and right when the lakitu helped me to my feet.

"Did you notice?" I asked him.

"The power Star in the bars behind the Chain-chomp...yes, I did. We got past him and your injuries aren't healed." The lakitu tried to walk me forward, but I resisted.

"We have to go back." I said.

"Are you crazy!? You were almost killed...eaten alive! You really wanna go back and try to fight that dog thing?" I angrily attempted to stand up on my leg, but flinched and fell again.

"What choice do I have? I came here for a power star and there is one right there. Do you honestly expect me to pass that up?!"

"Listen to yourself. You can't even walk and you're already trying to rush into a fight? Look, you can't defeat that thing. Chain-chomps are nearly indestructible."

"I don't care about that!" I exclaimed.

"The bomb down there said that we are gonna meet a big strong bomb at the top. Don't you think that something like that will have a power star too?" Besides, how do you expect to get into the bars?"

I looked in thought for a moment, considering the pros and cons of deciding to travel up the mountain.

"You're right." I said after a hard ponder. "I shouldn't waste energy on harming the chomp if I'm going to defeat an oversized bomb. Maybe by the time we get to the top of the mountain I would be fully healed."

"There...see, now you're thinking smart." So I agreed with the lakitu and we continued toward the foot of the mountain. As we walked over the second bridge, my eyes drifted to the oversized coins that we had been walking by since we arrived.

"Lakitu?"

"Yeah?"

"You noticed the coins around here? They look pretty big and valuable."

"I think so too."

"Yeah I'm gonna try to bring one with us... at least one of them." He looked over at me with squinted eyes.

"The only reason you're walking right now is because you are leaning on me. I'm practically carrying you, but if you wanna carry it by yourself..."

"I just wanna touch one." We walked over to the first golden coin that we were able to see and I grabbed it. Directly after, the coin vanished. I jumped up and began shouting.

"What the crap! It just disappeared." The lakitu looked at me with a gaped mouth.

"Mario, you're standing again." I looked down at my feet and started stomping around the grass with a smile.

"Well would you look at that? You're right!" The lakitu started floating around me with his hand on his chin in thought.

"It must because the coins in this world aren't used for currency, but for healing. That's why it vanished. It healed you."

We continued hiking and finally reached the base of the mountain after dodging the water bombs that were spoken of earlier. I was hit by a few of them and had to find more coins to heal with, but we made it.

"Do we climb now?" The lakitu asked.

"No. We may be right in front of the mountain's base, but look at the number of enemies. The goombas...I know how to kill them. They look a little bigger than the ones that I am use to, but if I jump high enough, I can still step on them. The bombs on the other hand, I'll leave those for you. Get them to chase you around once the fuse starts. Run until it blows out and they will die. Ready...go!"

We went our separate ways and took care of the individual duties. I stepped on all the goombas by the time he got the final bomb to chase after him.

"Hey, lakitu...how ya holdin' up?"

"I'm fine, this one's about to blow up in a..." before the lakitu could finish, the bomb blew up and we began traveling up the foot of the mountain. Right off the bat, we had to dodge a couple of boulders that looked like bombs. We had to run past those, only to notice that more were coming down toward us.

"Someone really wants you dead, Mario."

"You look like you're helping me, so they're probably trying to kill you too."

"I'm only trying to keep you alive for me. If you die, I have no star."

"You're really asking for it, you little bastard." We continued walking up the mountain that barely had enough walking room at all until we came to a part that had extra land extending from it. We had been hiking for at least twenty minutes before that could happen.

"Hey, look..." I said. "another bomb baddie." I kicked that one down a slope on the mountain and examined a square on the ground that had a picture of a bomb buddy on it.

"This looks like a cannon cover." I said.

"Why would there be a cannon way up here, though?"

"No clue. Maybe once we get back down the mountain we can ask a buddy. For now, let's continue up." We walked further and further and it appeared that the path was getting smaller. I could tell we were nearing the summit.

Getting even closer, I realized that there was a slope with a lone red coin sitting on it.

"I want it." I said to the lakitu.

"Are u silly. That slope would take us back to the foot of the mountain, Mario."

"Not if you get it. You can float cant you?"

"It will be a waste of time. Since it looks like a shortcut, we can take that path on the way down. We may not have been able to walk up a steep slope like that, but we could very well slide down it." I stood hunched over, hands on my knees while looking down at the coin.

"You're right. Let's keep going. To be honest, I'm getting worn out. If I find a place where we can rest on this mountain, I will sleep there." We continued hiking, each step bringing us closer and closer to the top. After about another half hour of walking, we came to another piece of extended land.

"Another one bites the dust." I said as I kicked the bomb that was standing there to the base of the mountain.

The lakitu had to float me over a sort of gorge that was on the way there. It looked like a long way down. The bomb that I kicked was standing near active cannon. That seemed to be the guy who started the automatic water bomb shooter.

"Lakitu," I called, "create a spiny and plug that cannon's hole." He followed my request.

"Daddy?" The spiny questioned after being created.

"Yes, son…daddy needs you to do a favor. I'm gonna stick you in that hole. It'll be a blast, but once you get down there, you can live how you want. I won't tell you anything." The small red-spiked spiny looked at the lakitu in confusion.

"You…don't want me?" The lakitu moved in frantic motions.

"No, no...it's not that! We just need your help right now. Tell ya what, if you go down there and wait for us to return, we can do whatever you want once we find you. I promise."

"Okay, daddy. Bye-bye" He placed the spiny in the cannon and the water bombs soon backed up in the cannon, causing it to explode. We watched his spiny fly to the sky and lie safely on the ground.

"That was a good idea, Mario." I said. "Now we don't have to worry about those anymore. *Gasp!* look at that!" The lakitu pointed toward a sort of cubby hole in the side of the mountain. It looked big enough for the both of us to take shelter there."

"But it's on the other side of that thin plank that's placed over the second gorge...think you can carry me over that?"

"Sorry, Mario, but no can do. That last bit of hauling I did for you took a lot of energy out of me. I'm lucky to still be flying." The wind was picking up the closer we got, and walking across the plank was a bad idea in that kind of weather. It was barely large enough to support my feet. Regardless, I began tipping across the plank.

"Just don't look down, Mario." I looked at him with the most annoyed expression on my face. I wanted to hit him, but could do nothing more than tip toe across.

"Don't look down? That's such as stupid thing to say. Why would you say something that cliché and stupid? 'Don't look down.' that's just going to make me look down anyway just because you said it. You wanna help me? How about saying, 'Keep your head forward.' That sounds much more encouraging." The lakitu looked down in shame. It was a look to be pitied,"

"Sorry." I said. The wind kicked up heavier just before I was able to get across. I lost track and almost fell down to the base of the mountain, but managed to grab the plank with my hand before I fell.

"Whoa!" I shouted.

"Mario! Don't move too much, I'm gonna try to pull you up!"

"You just said that you can't carry me, but you think you can pull me up?" My grip on the plank was loosening the more I talked.

"Talking takes too much movement. Let me just set my camcorder down and I'll pull you up!" He floated by the softest mountain-close extension of land and sat the camcorder there.

He grabbed the wrist of mine that was hanging on for dear life. I grabbed his wrist when I was sure he had mine, and then I grabbed his arms with my other hand. After the struggling, he was finally able to pull me up.

"That was a close one." I said to the exhausted lakitu.

"I told you, Mario...that I could not carry you any further. I'm tapped out. You'll have to carry me to the summit. If we manage to collect the power star from the Bob-omb, it will heal us both fully."

"That sounds fine. We are near the cubby hole, so we can rest in a bit." I picked up the lakitu and the camcorder, and then began walking toward the hole. "If you notice," I said, "the boulders have stopped coming. That means we must be near the top, so we'll called it a night and sleep here in this hole.

"A night?" the lakitu asked "Look around you. The time of day doesn't even change in this place."

"Yeah, but we've been here for a while now. Night is sure to have fallen in the real world."

"You're right." I lay down in the hole, using my hat as a pillow. "Well, I'm gonna sleep now, so just wake me when you are ready to get going."

"Will do" I lay down and after a while, finally drifted to sleep. I couldn't believe that I was having such and adventurous day.

I figured that it was only the beginning. If I could remember right, I think there were a number of 120 power stars in the land. My life was boring, so I had planned to collect them all if no one else was up to the task.

Sleep made me think of many things. I wondered what my fight with the big Bob-omb would be like. I was anxious, but scared at the same time.

"Lakitu?" I called, but no answer returned. He was sound asleep. I figured that I should catch up to him and sleep, did I do.

The next morning, or what I could assume was the next day, the lakitu woke me up, shaking me dramatically.

"Mario! Wake up...wake up! Come outside!"

"What is it?" I walked outside and stood in awe because from what I could tell, we had reached just below the summit in our sleep.

"This isn't possible!" I shouted.

"Not necessarily" the lakitu said. "It seems that this world is not bound by the physical laws in ours. From what I can guess, the hole we slept in was some sort of portal that teleported us to this hole further up the mountain. What's more...there is a stamina heart sitting right outside."

Stamina hearts were in our world as well. If one were to be tired or weary at all, we'd pass through it and none of that mattered anymore. So pass through the heart, we did and we were fully rejuvenated.

"Mario, turn around and look up." the lakitu demanded. As he requested, I turned toward the face of the mountain and looked above it. The peak was visible...and so was the big Bob-omb.

"We're her." I said. Using the effects of the stamina heart, I back-flipped up to the summit and approached him.

"It's you...isn't it!?" I shouted to the Bob-omb. "Word has it, you're the biggest bomb here. You hide yourself atop a summit. I think that something like you...MUST BE HIDING A POWER STAR FOR THAT CREEP! The Bob-omb turned around to me with the most arrogant expression on his white mustache wearing face.

Yes, it is I, the big Bob-omb... lord of all blasting matter, king of ka-booms the world over! How dare you scale my mountain and talk to me that way? By what right do you set foot on my imperial mountaintop?"

"I'm here for your power star." I responded.

"You may have eluded my guard bombs, but you'll never escape my grasp or take away my power star. Mario, I challenge you!" I took off the glove of my right hand and rather than slapping, I threw it at him.

"I accept."

"If you want the star I hold, you'll have to defeat me in battle. Can you grab me and hurl me to this royal turf? I don't believe...THAT YOU CAN!" He began walking toward me, but due to his size, he walked very slowly.

"Mario!" The lakitu called. "He's coming for us...stand guard!"

"I know, brilliance. Yelling doesn't help." I ran from him each time he got close. *What do I do?* I thought. I looked at his huge, approaching and oversized body for any weak points.

"Lakitu, I have an idea." I considered two things. The king Bob-omb said to grab and hurl...the idiot. Also, the effects of the stamina heart hadn't worn off.

"You ready, my liege?" I asked the king.

"Humph...you figure something out, boy?" I ran circles around him until he got accustomed to the pattern. Just when he got comfortable, I dashed the opposite way behind him, hauled him to the air and tossed him to the ground.

"You're done, old man." I boasted. Quickly, the king lifted himself to his feet.

"I'm not easily going down like that, boy. It was a good move, I admit."

"You get up quickly for your size." I said.

"I can move even faster and I won't fall for the same trick twice. It's time to kick it up a notch." I ran from his arm range and decided to think of how I'd get him again. Throwing him was all I could manage, so I figured I would just do it again and again 'till he couldn't get up. I ran him in circles again, but right when I tried to grab him, he picked me up.

"Mario!" Shouted the filming lakitu.

"Don't worry about me. I came up here with plans to handle this. You just keep filming." The king bomb continued to haul me.

"Stupid man...I told you that you can never escape my grasp and now...you die!" He got near the cliff of the summit and tossed me over.

"MARIO!" shouted the lakitu. He rushed to my aid and in a split of time I was able to grab a cliff. The lakitu reached his hand toward me tried pulling me up.

"C'mon, Mario...just like with the plank." Recalling that, he was able to pull me up in no time. I stood atop the summit again.

"Mario, thank goodness." The lakitu said. "I'm exhausted again. I won't be able to do that again. Be more careful!" King Bob-omb stood with a hardy laugh.

"You ready for more, boy?" I put my finger up toward him and waved it side to side.

"Tsk, tsk...you're hitting the ground again."

"WHAT?!" He stomped toward me and I ran toward him. At the moment he tried to grab me, I dropped and slid under his legs. Once I got behind him, I picked him up again and hurled him to the ground.

*that's twice* I thought. Shortly after, the king rose to his feet again.

"He gets up again?"

"Alright...you have pushed me too far! You're an interesting man, but it ends here...up to max speed!" The king began charging after me with faster speed, but it wasn't anything I couldn't outrun. Trying to form a plan, I circled him again.

"That's not how a king does it, son!" I tried slipping under is legs again, but he kicked me to the other end of the summit. I tumbled across.

"Get that outta here! I told you that I won't fall for the same trick twice. I could barely rise to my feet after that. The king made his way to my position and prepared to pick me up, but before he could, a spiny flew from nowhere.

"Mario, I found more coins. They only work on humans, so I can carry them and they won't vanish." I grabbed the coins that the lakitu brought and jumped to my feet in a stance.

"You traitorous lakitu!" The king exclaimed. "How dare you use your spinies against me! Why would you betray lord king Bowser?"

"Because I'm not a puppet like you. I happen...to like Mario."

"Suit yourself, genius. He's about to die anyway." The king stomped on the lakitu's spiny, killing it with no hesitation.

"You heartless bastard!" I shouted.

"You can make more, can't you, lakitu brat?" The king started walking toward me again.

"Mario," the lakitu called. "I have an idea, but you have to trust me. I need you to turn your back toward him."

"Turn my back? Are you crazy?!"

"Possibly, but that has nothing to do with this!" Turn your back and crouch down."

"I guess. I have no other plans, but if I die, I will haunt the crap outta you." I crouched down after turning my back and I could here the king's steps getting closer to me.

"Okay, Mario...when I say back flip, you give it all you've got." I waited for seconds on in and he got even closer.

"Lakituuuuu?"

"Not yet, Mario...not yet." For a few more seconds, I waited.

"Now!" He demanded. "Now...now...now!" I back flipped into the air, and right when my feet touched the ground, I found the king's back in front of my face. He gasped and before he could turn around, I used all possible strength and impaled my fingers through his back.

"I get it now. Good one, Lakitu!" I gripped and clenched my fingers, jumped in the air and came rushing down bomb first.

"Damniiiiiiiiiit!" The king screamed on the way down. He crashed hard and I jumped off him. From the looks of things, he wouldn't be getting up again.

"That was...elegant, boy (cough wheeze). To think that a pipsqueak like you has defused the king of bombs. You may have been fast enough to ground me, but you should pick up the pace if you expect to take king Bowser by the tail. Heh...methinks my troops could have learned from you." I stood there, growing tired of listening to his chatter.

"Cut it. Where is the power star?" I scolded.

"Relax, kid. I'm a bomb of my word. I lost to you. I'm as good as dead if Bowser hears about it. You'll get your star." The lakitu floated over the king's face.

"Serves you right, no good pawn." I glared over at the lakitu.

"Shut it, lakitu."

"Listen," the king asked. "When I'm defeated, a timer is set off to detonate me. Bowser is good at what he does. If you're gonna do this, do it right. It's a small explosion, but if you wanna survive, you've got about 20 seconds. I want you to meet my lord. He'll rip you apart...heh. tah tah." We dashed away from the king bomb and barely made it out of the explosion's range.

"Look there." The lakitu said, pointing where the king exploded. "The power star is there." We recovered from ducking and strolled toward the star.

"All that..." I said. "for this little thing?" I touched the power star and it circled around us, lifting us to the sky.

"Here we go!" I shouted. After the star's lift, we ended up in the castle, sitting in front the picture frame.

"Well, Mario. We did it. We've recovered the first power star. Now we can unseal a couple doors around here. I think the princess hid one in her room. We should go there next." And so it was that the first of our journey had come to an end. All that was left were unknown surprises.


	3. Chapter Two: Footrace W Koopa The Quick

_**A/N: Last we left off, Mario and the lakitu entered into a battlefield of bombs after first meeting in our prologue. Mario suffered an injury after he was attacked by a Chain- chomp, but soon found that he could heal with the power of coins. Shortly after, they began scaling a huge mountain, where doom was certain to befall the heroes. Through the help they both gave to one another, they were able to meet with the king of the land…King Bob-omb! After a vigorous battle, they were able to defeat the enemy, giving Mario the power of the first star, but what awaits them now?**_

After exiting the picture frame, we found a quiet corner in which to rest. I was twiddling with my fingers, and the lakitu was floating with crossed arms. Soon, though, we had to get back to the adventure.

"Mario," The lakitu called, "I have to tell you something."

"What is it? This had better not upset me."

"It's just that…you know I worked for Bowser before, right?" I stopped my fingers and shrugged my shoulders.

"Yeah…from what I've heard, you are the only lakitu left because eventually, all of your kind betrayed him. What of it?"

"That's not the point I'm trying to make. My reason for bringing this up is because Bowser created all of his minions with his ambition." My tolerance level began to drop, both by my words and my angered expression."

"Get to the point! What're you getting at?"

"You don't get it? I'm saying that I know where the power stars are. I can sense them!" From anger to bemusement, my expression changed.

"You can!? Can you sense every last one?"

"I can't, but there aren't many I can't feel. The princess hid a few of them around here. Her essence lies in those. I may have been able to change from bad to good, but I was a spawn of evil. I can't feel the princess' light." I stood up, placing my hands on my back and stretching.

"Whelp," I said, dusting my clothes. "I guess it's time for us to be hittin' the old dusty trail."

"Dusty trail?"

"...an expression." The two of us began traveling around the castle, looking for the door to the princess' room. As we walked, the checkered floor of the castle pavement seemed to give an illusion…as if it were conveying us.

We came to the second floor and there were three doors. To the left, there was a door with a big star on it. To the right, there was a door with a star and the number "1" on it. Finally, to the center, there was a doubled door that appeared to need a key.

"It's to the right, Mario" The lakitu proclaimed. Walking to the princess' door, I thought there to be no reason why another conversation couldn't be struck.

"Lakitu," I called, "what's your name? I've been calling you by your race the whole time." The lakitu floated down in front of my face and reached his hand to me.

"It's Lester…Lakilester. Wait, no! It's actually Spike. My name is Spike!" I sized down the Lakitu and formulated an opinion.

"Spike?" I laughed. "Sorry, but you don't look like a Spike."

"I know! I want to get a mohawk and paint it green, but my friends don't think it will look right. I'm scared it won't either, so I haven't done it yet, but some day…"

"Have ya thought about a pair of shades to go with that? It makes virtually any hairstyle look cool." The lakitu began to "raise the roof".

"Woo-hoo! I didn't even think of that. Now I can't wait to grow my hair back out, Watch!" I giggled a bit.

"Okay, then. If you do that, then Spike it is." Spike and I had finally come to the princess' room, where we stood outside holding our conversation. We were then faced with getting into the room.

"Here goes nothing." I said. I placed my hand on the door where the star was drawn. Energy began to surround my insides.

It appeared to be some sort of a powerful seal and the number on the door represented the amount of energy from power stars that I needed. From the looks of it, I only needed the energy from one star.

"I…I CANT CALM THIS POWER!" I shouted. The seal was beginning to break, but I couldn't control of the star's power. Instantly, a gust of wind surrounded my feet and the lights in the castle began to flicker.

"MARIO, STOP THE UNSEAL! IT'S TOO RISKY!"

"I'M SO CLOSE! I CAN'T!" Spike floated over and tried to pull me away from the door, but a part of my hand turned into some sort of metallic element. With it, I slapped him away and he tumbled to the ground.

"KEEP AWAY, SPIKE! I CAN'T CONTROL MYSELF!" My body was in pain, and I wanted so badly to stop, but my body wouldn't allow it. It was as if my hands were glued to the door. I continued on and it seemed that the energy was arising out of me even faster. That's when I noticed the star on the door begin to peel off.

"Spike, the seal is breaking!" An explosion of power burst all nearby windows in the castle, but the energy had finally subsided and the seal was broken. Exhausted, I felt to the ground.

"Mario!" Spike exclaimed, floating to my aid. I could hear him, but my body wouldn't move.

"Are you okay? Can you talk?" I couldn't answer a yes to either of those questions. Spike hauled me up and floated me through the unsealed door.

"Three pictures of the princess…" He said. "One of these has to be a portal to her secret." He began floating around again and it sounded as if he was knocking on a glass window. I couldn't open my eyes either. He knocked on another window an it seemed that it was to no avail. He floated again and I didn't hear another knock, but he stopped.

"This is the one! Let's go, Mario." He said, toting me along. We entered an empty room with red velvet carpet and I rose to my feet.

"What's this place?" I asked.

"I thought so." Spike responded.

"What is it?"

"You've been miraculously healed again…speaking and walking."

"I realized that, but after the coin thing, I wasn't gonna make a big deal about it, Spike."

"Well, la di da. I'll explain anyway. It's simple, actually. Whatever physical effects that happen in our realm means nothing in this realm. Same goes the other way around."

"I see. So then, where is this secret star of the princess'?" I asked.

"It's down there... the slide in the hole. Not being able to sense this star, I can only assume."

"Hole?! I thought that was a fireplace or something. So we have to slide down that thing?"

"'fraid so, my friend." Spike grabbed my hand and began running toward the slide!"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" I scolded.

"Look at it this way." He said before throwing us to the slide. "It'll be FUUUUN!" There we went. It started as a rough tumble down, but I soon got situated on the slide and he was right. It did feel fun.

"Mario, watch out for those corners up ahead. If you belly slide, you should have better control." During the entire slide, I found myself riding on my belly and butt simultaneously.

It was a fun ride, but it quickly ended when we arrived to a small room with literally next to nothing in it.

"What do we do here, Spike?" I asked.

"...a small room with nothing in it but steps and a box...go figure." To the center of the small room, a lone box hovered above a step-connected platform.

"It's that same sarcasm that'll make me kill you after this is over." I retorted.

"...a threat while the camera still rolls? Aren't we brave?" I rolled my eyes, turning my head in swift snideness.

To the platform, I walked and found a good spot directly under the box. Using the shadow below my feet as certainty, I sprang into the air. My fist was above my head. With one blow to the box, I was able to burst it open.

"Well would you lookie there." Spike said. "I'd call this a freebie." A power star emerged from within the box.

"We have no time to waste here. Let's go." I placed my hand on the power star and it served the same way as the other star did. It surrounded the two of us and we were lifted through the ceiling.

"Here we go again!" I exclaimed.

Out, we popped to the ground of an empty room where three windows of the princess lied.

"So this is how we got there?" I asked.

"Right," Spike began. "you weren't full able bodied at the time. I had to knock so that I could figure out which window we could actually go through."

"I see. That was smart." The two of us traveled out from Peach's room and reentered the grand hall.

"We should hold off for a moment. I wanna talk with you." I said. We went down the stairs of the hall and sat down at their base.

"What did you have in mind, Mario?" Spike asked.

"It's about unsealing the doors. Will it always be that...you know...painful?"

"You're too weak. It's a contradiction... I know, but you are not yet strong enough to use their power without suffering."

"Where is the contradiction?" I asked.

"To control the power of the star you have, you need to collect more. Their energies will counteract, giving you the ability to control their power."

"That sounds very troublesome. Can you tell me how many I need before I am strong enough to unseal another door?" Spike looked to the ceiling in thought.

"I'd say with about 6 total stars, you should be able to unseal these doors with no pain at all." Tired of sitting in the same position, I propped my feet up on the stairs to relax.

"That's a relief. I have just one other subject for you."

"Ask away." He responded.

"I hit you during the unseal, but that wasn't my hand. It was made of some sort of an odd metal substance."

"I knew this was coming." He said. "That is one of the effects of the star's power... the ability to fully incase yourself within a metal shield."

"I have that power?" I inquired.

"Can you access it; you can, but I wouldn't say it's your power until you've mastered it." I stood up quickly.

"How do I master it!?" I shouted.

"It's simple. Collect more power stars. When it's been mastered, you will know. At first, it will activate automatically, but then you will have to access it yourself thereafter.

"I see...more stars."

"I wouldn't try to access that again. Of all the abilities, that one takes some of the most power to control." I looked at Spike in an uncomfortable way.

"How do you know so much?" I asked.

"You don't read much, do you? If it were not only for the fact that I worked for Bowser, I also read.

Princess Rosalina, guardian of the universe, created the stars to bring illuminating peace to the land and gave them power for the hero to destroy anything that threatens that peace. In other words, you are the viaduct to Rosalina's peace."

"Well then," I said. "Doesn't that make me special? If that's not encouragement to get up..."

I grabbed on to Spike's cloud and used it as leverage to stand up.

"Let's go." I said.

"You say that as if you know where we are going."

"I do."

"oh! Can _we_ sense the power stars now?"

"I can't. We're not going after a star right now."

"Then where are..."

"To my house. It's been two whole days."

"I'm not complaining. I'll go where you go." He said. I turned to Spike's camcorder, pointing at its lens.

"I need you to turn that off. I don't need you filming me in my house."

"...fair enough." He placed the camera down to his side and we began the journey. Skipping over details of our travel, we arrived a half hour later.

"So this is your house?" Spike asked. "It's kind of small." My house was the same as always - one bedroom and bathroom...small and banana colored.

"It actually has your name on it? How self-important..." Spike retorted. I was going to come back with a witty retort of my own, but that's when Parakarry flew over our head.

"Parakarry!" I called, waving my hand and tip-toeing toward him. He slowed his velocity and flew down to me.

"Howdy, guys. Mario, where have you been? We see each other everyday."

"I've been out. Um...where ya goin'?" I asked

"I'm headin' home. I'm done for the day."

"Nonsense...you will come inside with us. We can talk over mushroom tea." I responded.

"Mushroom tea? Is that...that even a...a real dr- nevermind...sure!" The three of us went inside and sat in my living room, though how uncomfortable. Everything was made of wood and nothing more.

It took a while, but Spike and I both explained, to Parakarry, our perilous adventure. He was shocked to hear it and it took a lot of convincing for him to believe us.

"So," he began, "Peach has been captured and you're the only person doing anything about it."

"That seems to be the case." I responded.

"What about that Brother of yours?" Parakarry said.

"You mean, Luigi? Mario and I talked about him on the way here." Spike responded.

"My brother is still in Sarasaland."

"Sarasaland?" Parakarry inquired. "That's Princess Daisy's territory. What is he doing there?"

"...thing is," I started. "My brother got a letter in the mail last week. He won a mansion in a contest." The two of them gasped. No one wins anything that expensive in a contest.

"Here's the kicker." I continued. "Luigi never entered into any contest." Again, they gasped.

"That sounds fishy to me." Said Spike

"I know." I responded. "Even so, the damned fool went anyway. I let him go alone. I didn't feel like going. In fact, he should be back...tonight!"

"So Luigi is gone," Spike said, "and no other people are helping. This is why I hate humans sometimes. They can land on the moon, but refuse to help out when needed."

"Heh," laughed Parakarry, "they may have landed on the moon, but we've got the sun."

"Wait a minute." I said. "You can't land on the sun; you'll burn."

"That's why we'll go at night, silly." Spike and I leaned close to each other, silently giggling at Parakarry.

"On that note," I said, still laughing. "I think I'll check the mail." I walked out to the mailbox and cautiously opened it. Inside, laid three pieces of mail. One was a medical bill, the other was junk, and the other...

"No..." I said softly. My lips began to quiver and tears began streaming down my face, each droplet falling from my lash to the paper. I fell to my knees and punched the ground constantly.

"M...Mario?" Spike called, placing his tiny lakitu hand on my shoulder. They both came to my aid.

"Damn it...damn it...DAMN IT!" I screamed through loud weeping.

"Mario?"

"It's my brother! Luigi's trapped in that mansion. It's haunted...LITERALLY HAUNTED!"

"I don't get it, Mario." Spike said. "Why are you so upset?"

"BCAUSE GHOSTS KILL! Don't be so stupid! What's more is that my brother is afraid of ghosts. He'd die before trying to fight one. In fact, I'm sure he'd rather." Spike removed his hand from my shoulder and floated in front my face.

"I can tell...that there is more to the reason that you're crying, isn't there?" I looked ahead at the lakitu, drying my eyes.

"When we were younger - me, 12 and Luigi, 10, - he was shot in Brooklyn. It was a stray bullet, not intended for him, but it landed him in a coma for 3 years.

When he woke up, I cried for days. Papa and Mama Mario tried pulling the plug many times, but I wouldn't let them.

Luckily, taking a bullet to the head, he only escaped with minor brain damage...Rosalina be praised. That's why he's a bit more silly than average...always poking at things, he is. He's a curious one, my brother." Thinking about him made me smile.

"After Papa and Mama Mario died, I promised them, in front their casket, that I would guard Luigi with my life.

_"Protect your little brother, Mario." _Papa would ask_. "Who knows? One day he might be all you've got."_ If he only knew that he was foretelling the near future.

"I have to go save him. Spike," I called, "cut that camera on. We're heading to Sarasaland."

"No, we can't." Spike replied.

"Why not?"

"You have a duty here in your land. If the princess is not found, the government here will fall."

"But he's..."

"Mario, you are his big brother, right? Trust that you taught him to be strong like you. He said he's fighting in that letter. Let him fight."

Maybe it was insulting for me to think of him that way, but I knew he wasn't as strong as I was. The only thing that changed my mind is knowing that he would not always have me. Maybe it was time for him to fight for himself.

"Parakarry," I called, "You should go. Spike and I are heading back to the castle. When this is over…I'M GOING TO THAT MANSION!"

"Yes!" Spike replied. "Thanks for listening, Mario." We said our goodbyes to Parakarry and he flew home.

"Time to go, Spike." I said. "We'll take my kart back." He agreed and I locked up before heading in my blue and red two-seater kart.

Again, skipping the details of our trip back, we arrived to the castle in seven minutes. Out, we hopped and through the castle door, we walked.

"Where's the next power star?" I asked, standing on the carpet in the grand hall.

"As I said, we won't be unsealing anymore doors until you have the power. Luckily for you, I am able to sense five more stars on the battlefield grounds."

"You mean to tell me that we're going back?" I asked.

"That's about the size of it." I wasn't really up to going back, but as long as we didn't have to scale the mountain again, I was fine (_**A/N: Aren't I just mean, you guys XD**_)

We went through the door to the room of the hanging Bob-omb picture. Again, I ran and jumped into the painting.

Anticipating the fall, I flipped from the sky, landing on my crouched legs and placing my hand on the ground for balance.

"So where is the next power star?" I asked.

"Well," Spike incepted, "beside the one behind the Chain-chomp that you can't go up against now, there's one in the sky."

"The sky?" I asked. Spike pointed toward a lone piece of land floating above the battlefield.

"...see that island up there?" He asked. "I feel its energy there."

"So how do we get up there?"

"Well...we'll need a cannon." He responded.

"That's perfect. I'm king of this land now, so I should be able to ask one of the pink guys and they should open one."

"You got it all figured out, eh?" We walked toward one of the bomb buddies, but our steps were interrupted when a magnificently giant koopa hopped in front of us from nowhere.

"Mama, Mia!" I shouted, stricken with fear. My hat bounced off my head and I picked it up before dusting it.

"Lakilester!" The Koopa shouted.

"Do you know me? Do I know you?" Spike asked.

"It's me, Kris!" Spike floated 9 feet up to the koopa's face. He examined his face and landed a smack across his face.

"Hey!" Kris shouted, "That hurt!" He continued, rubbing his cheek."

"You know better than to call me that! It's Spike!"

"Sheesh, you craphole." Kris declared.

"Spike," I called, "we're wasting time."

"Yeah, gimmie a moment. Kris, how'd you get so...big!"

"Yeah...that. Remember that growth serum Bowser was working on? He finished it using some of the star power. He banned us from his lab, but I went in there and fell to the serum. I ran before he found out.

"I see. Well I'm sorry to cut things short, but Mario and I have to get going. We're seeking to recover the stars."

"Mario?!" Kris exclaimed. "The Mario who kicked King Bob's arse?"

"The very same" I boasted, smugly closing my eyes and smiling.

"Then this works out perfectly! I came here looking for you."

"I'm not interested." I said. I placed my hands in my pocket and nonchalantly walked past Kris.

"Let's go, Spike."

"Sorry, Kris." Spike said.

"Wait...I have a power star!" Kris proclaimed. I stopped in my tracks and turned my head around.

"What's your game, Koopa?" I angrily asked.

"...game, indeed Mario. I propose a race."

"A race?" Spike asked.

"Yes...when I heard that Mario defeated the king, I thought, _cool_. I figured he must be strong and fast, _but how fast are you,_ I thought."

"Get to the point!" I said.

"There..." Kris said. He pointed to the summit of the mountain.

"You...you're kidding me, right?" He shook his head.

"...a fitting place. Wouldn't you say, Spike?"

"It _**is**_ pretty epic, Mario."

"I don't give damn! I'm not going up that mountain again...ever!" Spike floated over to my ear.

"Mario, now is a good time to really put that energy of the star to use. Burn it out, tap into it." He was right. I didn't have the star's power last time.

"Okay, you've got a race. If I win, though, I want your power star. Don't you forget." I took my stance.

"Tell me, Koopa. Just how long do you think it took me...TO RUN CIRCLES AROUND THAT KING!" I sped off without a moment's warning and Spike followed.

"Mario, you're cheating!"

"Oh, pooh… It's our handicap! He's bigger." I ran quickly as possible. I didn't feel myself growing weary any time soon. My agility seemed to improve a lot. I dodged the bad bombs easily and they all exploded behind me. Destroying the water bomb cannon, We didn't need to worry about those.

"This power is...exhilarating!" I said, running faster. Five minutes later, we arrived just beyond the mountain's base.

"The trip begins again." Spike said.

"Yeah, you might wanna keep up."

"Actually, Mario, I can fly pretty fast. I always slow my speed for your sake."

"Then let's keep it moving, guy." We continued up the mountain. I was fast enough to jump over both gorges.

"You're showing off, Mario."

"Maybe, but I think we can slow down now. That Koopa is nowhere near us on this mountain." We stopped.

"You're right, Mario. I wonder why that is. Think he's at the top already?"

"He did go up a different face, but I don't think so. Let's walk." We slowed our pace and chatted on the way up the mountain. Fifteen minutes later, Spike noticed something.

"MARIO! LOOK! I peered further in front of us and noticed Kris going up the slope ahead of us. He continued hiking.

"The damn bastard's cheating!" I shouted. "Well I'm gonna catch up with him an tell him off...time to fight fire with fire." I started running, but Spike grabbed me.

"No, Mario...use water instead." He said. "If he wants to cheat, we will too."

"Now you're talkin'. What'd you have in mind?"

"Well, remember that sleep we had on this mountain? Was it good?"

"Oooooooh, you sly dog! Let's do it!"

"Aright, then - it's just up ahead." We shortly scaled further up the mountain to the hole in the side of it.

"Here goes nuthin'." we stood huddled in the hole. For about two minutes, we stood there, but nothing was happening.

"Spike, this was your genius plan, ya know?" I said.

"Maybe we have to be asleep for it to work."

"Well we can't sleep at a time like...ARGH!" I fell to the ground because I suffered from a terrible migraine. From the looks of it, Spike was suffering as well. As quickly as it began, it ended.

"Mario," Spike called, "You okay?"

"Yeah...what was that just now?" I asked.

"No clue...maybe..." Spike floated outside for a moment to confirm his apparent suspicion.

"Yep," he said. This was definitely my genius idea." I went outside and as we planned, we ended further up the mountain.

"Well there we have it." I said.

"Wait a minute. Spike, peep around the mountain and see where Kris is." He obliged my request and returned hysterically.

"Mario, Mario!"

"What...what is it?" I asked.

"He's right behind us!"

"Did he see you?"

"I don't think so."

"Well let's go! Hurry...go, go, GO!" We ran up the remainder of the mountain and finally reached the top.

"Look at that yellow flag in the center." Spike said

"Yeah, it has a Koopa shell on it, but I'm the new king." We sat down near the flag and shortly waited for Kris to arrive.

"Here he comes." Spike said.

"*huff huff*" Kris panted. "How did you...woo!...you really are fast. Here's your star. You won it fair and square." He snapped his fingers before the star appeared.

"Wait a minute, koopa." I pointed my thumb over my shoulder toward the flag. "What's with this?" Leaving the star behind, Kris ran and jumped down the mountain.

"SORRY MARIOOOOoooo!" He shouted on the way down." The two of us looked at each other and shrugged our shoulders. It was then that I ran toward the star and grabbed it.

"That makes three!" I said, being flown into the sky by the star's power.

Out, we popped from the frame and I took my hat off and sat down on the carpet in front the painting.

"I almost thought we lost." I said.

"Yeah...it's a good thing we knew about that cheat." Spike responded.

"Certainly" I stood up, preparing to think of our next move.

"Alright," I said, "time to go. We've got a lot more stars ahead of us. There's no time to waste." We left the room with the Bob-omb painting, ready to discover what we'd encounter next."

Considering everything I've recorded so far has been an epic odyssey, it seems that I've been through much, but no…this isn't even the beginning, not even close.


	4. Chapter Three: Shoot to the Island

_**A/N: Last we left off, Mario and Spike began the next of their journey when Mario used the power of the star to unseal the first door. Little did he know how weak he was. He ended up unconscious, but was miraculously healed when they found the princess' secret room. After a bumpy slide, they acquired yet another star and Mario left the castle with Spike to his home. There, Mario got troubling news from a letter his brother, Luigi sent him. Nearing the brink of giving up on his quest, Mario attempts to head for Sarasaland, but Spike luckily convinced him to stay. The two later returned to the Bob-omb painting where they engaged in a swift race with a giant Koopa named Kris (I changed his name for those of you who didn't know.) After they won, they had obtained their third power star, but now….what awaits them?**_

"The sun is ridiculously hot." I said, bathing in the waters outside the castle. "It makes this moat feel like a Jacuzzi." Spike, bathing with me, scrubbed around his body with his hand.

"Yeah…it surely made my cloud into rainwater." Spike's cloud vanished upon entering the moat with me. I really didn't know that a lakitu could survive without its cloud.

"Spike," I called. "I didn't realize that you wore glasses until now. The frames are so thin."

"That's understandable, I guess. I only take them off when I bathe. I even sleep with them."

"You ever consider contact lenses?" I asked, scrubbing my hand between my legs underwater.

"I have, actually. As a matter of fact, I thought about it yesterday when we were talking about my new look. If I have to wear sunglasses like you said, I need to wear contact lenses."

"I see. That makes sense." The two of sat in the moat, relaxing and looking up at the sky. The birds were chirping as if to not have one care. It was nice. It was the only peaceful moment that I had in those last few days."

"Hey, Mario…" Spike called.

"Yeah?" Upon answering, Spike began splashing me rapidly, tossing ounce upon ounce of water at me.

"Stop it…" I laughed "Quit…" I started swimming away and splashing back. I jumped from the water and jogged a bit.

"Mario," Spike called "I can see your butt."

" Don't be gross, spike." I slipped into the nearest body of the moat and swam back to Spike's position.

"I'd say it's about time to head back in, don't you think?" I asked.

"Yeah…I'm ready."

"Good," I said. "Turn your head." He obliged and I got out of the moat. Using the sun as well, I shook my body around to drip dry. After I was sure that I was dry enough, I put my clothes back on and called for Spike.

"How do you…get another cloud around your body?" I asked.

"Oh, that's easy." He pointed toward a random cloud in the sky. "See there?" He asked. He snapped his fingers and the cloud that he pointed toward vanished and shortly appeared around his body.

"That was…cool?" I questioned sarcastically.

"It wasn't meant to be cool, Mario. It's just what I do." So both of us fully clothed, we headed back inside of the castle to our next place, walking at a slow pace.

"So this "Bowser" I Began. "What's he like? Who is he?"

"Let's see." Spike began, floating along side me. "How do I describe him? Bowser is a beast... a sort of dragon-like fiend. He murders without a moment's hesitation and enjoys playing mind games."

"Deep." I said.

"That's not the worst. Bowser is the one who killed his very own parents. They got in his way of domination, so he killed them. What's more is he ate them…cooked them in the very pits of hell that he created."

"Are you…you trying to frighten me, or is this really how that guy is."

"Oh, no…I am being completely honest! He bathes in the blood of his enemies and uses their bodies to furnish his very lair. Bowser is no joke! There are only few in the world who are cunning enough to have escape his torture. One thing, though. Bowser does not care about traitors. We can leave anytime we want. He just never promises not to one day kill us in battle." I stopped walking and thought to myself.

"Spike, is it me, or does it seem like he wants us to meet him. It was the same with the king. Why place these unbreakable seals in the castle? Why leave one unsealed specifically for me to get in. Is he trying to say something?"

Spike placed his finger and thumb across his chin in thought.

"To be honest," Spike said. "I do. I think that once you have taken in all 120 stars, the moment you try restoring them to this land, he plans to crush you – as if to say that even with the greatest power in the world, this land is hopeless against his determination."

"Whoa! This creature…I am to go against him?" I asked.

"If you plan to protect this land and…the princess of the kingdom, then yes. That is more than expected of you, Mario. You are the first and only to have come forth and taken this mater into your own hands. If not you, then no one else will do what you have already set out to do."

"You make me sound unbelievably important. I see your point, though. I guess it's time to get the fourth power star. I recall you saying that there was one on an island in the sky. I think it's time we go for that on next." We were both in accordance and went onward into the Bob-omb painting.

From the sky, we fell and noticed that in our absence, a few things had changed. There seemed to be added enemies and from the looks of it, the water bomb cannon had been rebuilt.

"Spike, whatever happened to that spiny kid of yours?" I asked.

"That's a good question. I have no clue." (_**A/N: I added a few things in the first chapter, so this might confuse that might confuse some of you**_.) We continued forward and spoke to one of the pink buddies as a request to open the cannon.

"I, King Mario of this land… ask that the cannons be telepathically opened now." The bomb looked at me awfully weird.

"We are peace loving bombs, Mario. We don't use cannons, but if you want to blast off, we don't mind opening them." The bomb closed its eyes for a short while, but opened them shortly after.

"There," It said. "All of the cannons in this land have been opened…bomb voyage!" We looked around where we were and noticed that there was only one cannon in that area. It was where the bomb stood.

"This one can't get us there, Mario." Spike proclaimed. "We need to find a closer cannon." We walked around the fielded land, trying to avoid as many possible enemies that we could. I had to step on a few goombas here and there, but nothing to exhaust myself on.

As we continued, I noticed something out of my periphery when passing the Chain-chomp that I had yet to defeat.

"Spike," I called, "do you see that?" I pointed in a nearly distant corner.

"Yes…it's a koopa." He responded.

"From the looks of it, I'd say he was a bad guy, mixed up with the rest."

"I think you're right, Mario. He doesn't seem good.

"If that's the case, I think I'm going to…TAKE HIS SHELL!" We slowly made our way to the koopa's position. We were sure to sidle behind it, careful not to allow it our presence.

"Grab its feet, Spike…now!" The koopa began making noises, looking around. It tried to scurry off, but Spike caught him in time before he slipped, stomach first, into the grass. I stepped on him, sliding my feet forward to remove the shell. Instantly, I began sliding around atop the shell.

"WEHEE!" I shouted. "THIS IS FUUUUN." I continued, sliding around and around as Spike followed. I slid past the Chain chomp, but due to lack of control, I fell off the sides of the gate.

"Mario?!" Spike shouted, floating down to my side. I sat up and shook off the pain in my head.

"Where are we, Spike?" I don't remember ever coming here.

"Why did you do that? All we needed to do was find a cannon and you had to go screw…AAAH!" He screamed as my own screams repeated behind his like an echo. We jumped up and began running from a barrage of bombs that started following us around. (_**A/N: To make sure I'm doing this part right, can someone message me if they know which part of the land I'm getting at. I really need to be sure I'm telling this right.**_) By the time we were able to outrun it, we came to a barred gate.

"Look, Mario!" Spike called.

"I know. There is a red coin behind these bars and some sort of button." I responded.

"No! That's not what I am getting at, Mario. Look closer. Squint if you have to." Closer, I peered through the bars to see what he wanted me to see.

"It's…it's…IT'S A GREEN MUSHROOM!" Those were very rare to find, but in our world, if one finds oneself near the brink of death to the point that coins cannot heal, they'd eat one of these bad boys and be in full recovery.

"You should grab it, Mario." Spike said. "You might need it if you plan to kill the big guy."

"Well I would if I could get through this gate. I continued peeking through the other end of the gate and my eyes widened in surprise.

"The other side is open, Spike. There are no bars or anything. It's just open!"

"Then we need to figure out how to get to the other end if that's a fact." We both pondered the thought for a while, but figured that we could just get the other stuff later.

Knowing Spike, he'd shortly be telling me that he sensed another star there. That's not counting the one I still hadn't gotten from behind the Chain-chomp.

The place I had fallen into was like a comparison between the past and future, or rather dead and alive. Above us were the grasslands where the fields were green and lustrous. That is were our adventure had mostly taken place.

This place that I was in at the time was surrounded by red earth and active bombs. I believe that there was a slope where the boulders from the mountain traveled down in hindrance.

"Well, Mario…" Spike began. "I don't think that we'll find what we're looking for down here, so I suggest we try heading back up, hm?"

"Yeah," I said. "That seems for the best." We found another small slope to travel up, which led us back to where we were…square one.

"So, the cannon?" I asked. Spike pointed and we headed for the cannon nearest the island in the sky.

"In, you go!" Spike declared. That was when I entered the cannon and prepared to shoot off.

"Spike, I will tell you where I need you to turn the cannon. You may very well need to place down the camcorder for this one. When I ask you to set me loose, that's when you…well…set me loose."

"Left" I said. "Too far left, go back to the right. No, no! Go up a little more. No, you went too far up! Go back down." He followed every request that I gave him, but just barely followed them as I explained.

"Okay, Mario…you ready?" I asked.

"Yup! After a million years I am finally ready. It took you long enough." I tucked my arms over my head while in the cannon to make sure that I cause myself a safe land.

"I'm lighting the cannon!" Spike said. After he lit the rear of the cannon, I counted the seconds in between that time and me blasting off. In total, it took only a matter of ten seconds before…

"WOOOHOOO!" I detonated into the sky from what felt like zero to sixty. Hell…I don't even think that I started at zero, but something went wrong.

"SPIIIIIKE!" I Shouted.

"MARIOOO!" He responded. I tried to reach my hand down and grab on to a tree that grew on the island, but I only missed it by a foot. He shot me over the island. He shot me so far over that I ended halfway up the mountain.

Spike floated to me shortly after I was released from the cannon. He hauled a few coins to me just in case. It was a good thing he did. I was badly injured from the impact and velocity. I could have died.

"What in the hell was that, Spike!" I scolded.

"I shot when you told me. What else was I supposed to do?"

"Well, you were outside of the cannon. You couldn't tell me as to whether or not it was a bad idea for you to shoot in that direction!?"

"Well if I used my own judgment on that, you would have started blaming me for it…something like what you are doing now."

We went back and forth like that for a while, until realizing that it was getting us nowhere. We walked down the mountain for somewhere around ten minutes, but we were still pretty far from its base.

"Mario," Spike called, "Wasn't there a cannon somewhere on this mountain when we were on our way up?" I stood for a second, feeling quite silly for not realizing it before.

"You're right! I remember. It also had a plate covering with a pink Bob-omb on it. We were supposed to go talk to one of the buddies about, but never did. I can't believe that I forgot about it!" Both our faces had smiles that stretched from ear to ear.

"Well let's get going, Mario! We don't need to waste any time." The cannon was only a few moments down from where we stood. So walk down we did, until our reason had finally come to fruition.

"There it is!" We both declared in unison. To our expectations, the cannon had already been opened for us. I sopped in and we began repeating the same process as before.

"Try to shoot me on the island this time." I demanded.

"That, I will do. I should tell you that I am shooting you for that treetop this time, so guidance is unnecessary. Your job is to grab it at the moment you feel yourself hover directly over…not a moment sooner, else you will fall over the island again."

Sitting in the cannon growing bored, I folded my arms.

"I'm starting to get confused as to which of us is leading here."

"You are, Mario. I am just your brainy sidekick who you'd be nothing with out…Batman as to Robin, ya know."

"There are so many insults I can say to you right now for that. First off…"

"Bye, Mario." He lit the cannon preemptively and sent me to the skies again.

"_**I'll kill him!**_" I thought, grinding my teeth. Sailing through the sky, I looked back at Spike, who was following me to the island. He pointed down after my noticing him and I saw the tree right under my body.

At the last second, I grabbed it's tip, almost slipping m grip. I grabbed it with my other hand to secure my landing, but found myself spinning around like a toy until I reached the tree's trunk.

"You made it, Mario." Spike declared, speaking with a condescending attitude.

"Yeah, you jerk hole…with nearly no thanks to you. I'm telling you, Spike. I am going to kill you when all of this is over."

"I'll been waiting for that. You can't kill me. You love me too much. We've know each other for almost a week and look at us…saving the world together."

"Don't make stuff so weird all the time, Spike…damn it!"

"No…it's okay. I love you too, Mario. You're strong." He said

"That's it! I'm done talking to you. Where is that star?" I looked around for a moment, but then my eye caught a box floating in midair, just like the one at the end of the slide in Peach's room.

"I take it then…" Spike began, "that you have realized where it is?" I walked over below the box, using it's shadow to determine the perfect position for me to jump. My fist above my head, I jumped and destroyed the box. As expected, my fourth star emerged from it.

Looking at the star, the two of us high-fived one another, grasping each others hands in a manly way.

"We got it!" I said. I placed my hand on the star and out of the painting, we flew.

"That was fairly easy and short." Spike declared.

"I agree, but I think I need to tell you something before we proceed any further." My expression changed to suit the seriousness of the situation.

"What is, Mario?" He tentatively asked.

"Well, when I was in the air I…noticed one of those red coins hovering above the tree that I grabbed on to."

"Okay?"

"I grabbed it, Spike." I dramatically proclaimed.

"That's good, right! I mean…what did it do for you. I think it's about time we find out what they do."

"See…that's the thing. When I grabbed it, I absorbed it in me and I could feel it. It was like…resonating with the stars inside my body."

"What do you mean? Are you saying it was like the power of the star itself?"

"No, not a whole star, but a fragment of one. I think….I think that these red coins are energy fragments from the power of a star." Spike floated around in his thinking pose again.

"So what you are saying is…if we collect all of the red coins…"

"Exactly… It should for another star!" We sat down on a few stairs that were in the room where the painting of the Bob-omb hangs.

"Mario," Spike started "what about the coin you have now. Can you do anything with it, even though it's inside you?"

"That's another thing. I don't feel it anymore."

"What do you mean? Did it vanish?"

"Not exactly. You know how certain things that happen here don't happen in those paintings? Maybe I can bring those coins here. Maybe I have to create the star right then and there."

"So we have to collect them all and find the star before leaving. We have no idea how many there are." I stood up and arranged my blue jean overalls.

"Which means we need to getta lookin'." I said. Spike, holding on to his camcorder, got up with me, and again, we reentered the painting.

I had four in my grasp and was working on my fifth, but who knows what awaits us with the other 115 left.


	5. NOTICE

Notice of new chapter comming soon. it will be done this month. I have learned a bit more about story telling, so expect my next chapter to be wuite a bit more discriptive.


End file.
